Guru’s rape conviction causes chaos in northern India

A helicopter believed to be transporting leader of Dera Sacha Sauda sect, who calls himself Saint Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insaan, flies over Rohtak, India, Friday. (AP)

People stand near vandalized train coaches in New Delhi, India, on Friday. (AP)

NEW DELHI: It is an emergency-like situation in northern India, including New Delhi. Fifty trains going to, or passing through, the states of Haryana, Panjab and Rajasthan have been canceled.
All interstate buses originating from New Delhi are at a standstill. Police are not allowing any gathering of more than four people in northern India, including the capital.
The unusual security measures follow unprecedented violence in Haryana that claimed more than 30 lives and injured more than 200 on Friday.
The violence erupted after a popular and controversial guru, Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was convicted of rape by a special court in Panchkula, Haryana.
The case relates to 2002, when a female devotee wrote to then-Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee complaining about Singh’s excesses against her.
This led to an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s domestic intelligence agency.
A local journalist who helped the woman write the letter was allegedly killed by Singh supporters. After a protracted trial, the court found Singh guilty.
On Friday, the moment the court announced its verdict, thousands of his followers who had gathered in Panchkula city went berserk.
They attacked journalists, burned TV vans, cars and buses, broke into homes and harmed residents.
The violence spread to New Delhi, where supporters torched buses and seven coaches of a stationary train at Anand Vihar station.
“I’ve never seen this kind of madness. Why should people protest the conviction of a rapist?” asked Sujeet, a New Delhi resident who had to cancel a trip to his home state Haryana.
Singh’s followers refuse to believe he could commit any crime. “When millions of women are willing to sacrifice their lives for the Baba, why should the court believe the wrong testimony of a single woman?” asked Malti Devi, who has been a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS), the sect that Singh heads, for the last 50 years.
Sobbing uncontrollably, her mother Sarita told Arab News: “He has cured many people from drug addiction, taken care of so many people, he can’t do anything bad.”
DSS, founded in 1948, is one of the most popular sects in Punjab, claiming 6 million followers worldwide.
Most of its supporters come from the lower strata of society and are not properly recognized in Sikhism.
Unlike many sects in northern India, DSS does not charge its followers, and it provides free medical facilities.
Singh became head of DSS in 1990 at the age of 23, and expanded the sect by including many socially marginalized groups.
He would ask his followers to shun drinking and drugs, and to respect women. This proletariat approach drew many supporters.
“Gurmeet Singh is a master messenger, his inclusive approach was his selling point,” said Maneesh Chibber, executive editor of the English daily DNA.
Chibber, who has been reporting on various sects for almost 15 years, told Arab News: “His appeal to people to give up drinking, the mass wedding of sex workers, and no distinction in the name of caste and creed, all helped expand his following.”
Chibber feels that the Haryana government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), deliberately allowed the situation to get out of control on Friday.
“Any government would’ve understood the implications of such a huge gathering on the day of verdict,” he said.
“The government shouldn’t have allowed the followers to come to Panchkula in the first place.”
Chibber added: “The BJP is paying the price of taking Singh’s support in the 2014 state elections.”
Many believe that DSS support was crucial in establishing the first ever BJP government in Haryana three years ago.
Social media and news channels are awash with pictures of Singh with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.
Modi then praised the DSS chief profusely, and Singh praised the prime minister’s controversial demonetization scheme last year.
Modi has not commented on the court verdict. In a tweet, he only expressed concern over the violence.
Chibber said: “Such gurus proliferate and feel super powerful because of political backing. But the court has done a great job by punishing the DSS chief, and has reinforced people’s faith in the judiciary.”
On Monday, the court will announce Singh’s punishment. If the judge is tough, the DSS chief could get up to seven years in jail.